Kellogg's managing director Sangeeta Pendurkar quits

Pendurkar has been working at transforming the company from being a pure-play breakfast cereal and cornflakes maker to a snacking companyRatna Bhushan | ET Bureau | June 21, 2017, 09:43 IST

Kellogg India reported sales of Rs 797 crore for the year ended March 2016, more than double from the Rs 311 crore when Pendurkar had taken over in 2010-11.Breakfast cereal maker Kellogg India's managing director Sangeeta Pendurkar has quit the company. She has had a six-year stint at the top after joining Kellogg from Coca-Cola in 2010.

Prior to Coca-Cola, she was with HSBC Bank, Novartis and Hindustan Unilever Ltd, across different functions and markets. Pendurkar confirmed the development to ET, but declined to divulge her next move. Kellogg is in the process of naming Pendurkar’s successor.

Pendurkar has been working at transforming the company from being a pure-play breakfast cereal and cornflakes maker to a snacking company, by focusing on on the-go consumption, penetrating into small towns and markets with smaller packs of cereal at convenient price points of Rs 5 and Rs 10, and distribution outreach to channels besides grocery stores, such as chemists, airports and restaurants.

Kellogg India reported sales of Rs 797 crore for the year ended March 2016, more than double from the Rs 311 crore when Pendurkar had taken over in 2010-11. The company had set up India operations two decades back. Its products are now available over 5,00,000 outlets across 3,000 towns, a five-fold increase over 2010. Kellogg brands in India include cornflakes, Honey Loops, Special K, Chocos, oats and muesli.

Localisation has been another key focus area, with the company launching India-specific innovations such as masala and pudina oats and ragi chocos. While Kellogg remains a standalone breakfast cereal player, the domestic snacking space has seen firms such as PepsiCo, ITC Foods and Britannia rolling out ready-tocook breakfast options in recent months. Market researcher Nielsen estimates the overall breakfast cereal category in India at close to Rs 980 crore, comprising of cornflakes, specialised cereals, oats and muesli, with Kellogg’s share estimated at 62%.Globally, Kellogg is a $14-billion company.

Two years back, on an India visit, Kellogg Company’s global chairman John Bryant had told ET that India was a key market which the US firm was hoping to scale up into cereal consuming market beyond just breakfast. While Kellogg India is bigger than China and the fastest growing market in the Asia-Pacific region, it contributes 10% to Asia-Pacific revenues, a number that is expected to double in five years.

He had said India was one of its highest growth markets for the company. Listed in the Fortune’s Most Powerful Women in Business for six years from 2011 to 2016, Pendurkar is also a member of the company’s Asia Pacific leadership team.